Why are some DS titles so hard to get hold of?

[GluedOnBeard]

Well after being recommended a lot of great titles I went off to buy them only to find that a large chunk of the titles I found I had to resort to ebay for. Why are they sold out or just not stocked anymore in a lot of places?

I honestly was thinking to just give up looking at some point and if I lose a few more ebay auctions I can see why people wold get a flash cart just to avoid the hassle of searching around and spending time trying to find the game they want to play.

I did find some of them but they were NOT worth ?30 still.

I am just really bemused how the likes of Super Mario 64 is still in stock but things like Yoshi's Island was impossible to find and Kirby etc There are a fair few others as well, I mean surely if they don't want to encourage piracy it helps to have the games on the shelves?

[The Mole]

The PAL version of Kirby: Power Paintbrush was given a short run, it is extremely hard to get hold of. Just had a look on ebay and could only find the Japanese version. A mate of mine wanted this about a year ago and we toured all of Newcastle and the Metrocentre before tracking it down at game in the Metrocentre it was a whopping £34.99. Needless to say he was not willing to pay that.

I guess with so many DS games being available shelf space is not gievn over to games that may sell. They tend to stock new and evergreen titles only.

CEX have a lot of the older games instock to buy. They have Kirby for £15 which is quite a bargain IMO.

UPDATE

Just had a look on CEX heres some good deals free postage also

Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow £10
Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin £10
Advance Wars: Dual Strike £7
Advance Wars Dark Conflict £7
Draglade £5 *
Elite Beats Agents £5 *
Geometry Wars Galaxies £7
Legend Of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass £12
Meteos £8
Metroid Prime Hunters £8
Metroid Prime Pinball £8
Nanostray £5
New International Track & Field £8
Project Rub £3 *
Starfox Command £7
Viewtiful Joe Double Trouble £6 *
Zoo Keeper £8

* UBER BARGAINS

[losersclub]

Amazon marketplace is pretty good for DS games too

[toythatkills]

Be careful on eBay, counterfeits etc.

[Daragon]

Amazon marketplace is pretty good for DS games too

Amazon Marketplace is like Ebay, dodgy folk trade on there too - best buying DS games from amazon directly or indigostarfish if you have to use a trader.

[importaku]

Considering across all regions theres nearly 3600 ds games out it's not suprising that some are becoming hard to find, as the years are knocking on the older titles are getting harder & harder to find. Games from one region maybe easier/harder to find in another, when i was trying to look for dangerous grandad: Dangerous sensation it took months to find & thats not really that old.

In years to come the ds is going to become a collectors dream come true & also a nightmare as theres so many obscure low print run games & special competition/limited editions that it's going to be tricky to find them.

[GluedOnBeard]

CEX is something I never really considered, for some reason I never trust them though.

I have had very bad experiences with Amazon Marketplace, things taking an age to arrive and in bad condition etc

As for Ebay I was thinking people with a fair few sales and 100% feedback would be a safe bet? I am not a big Ebay user so not sure on this one.

I suppose that is right, it is just annoying to find that the likes of Barbies Horse Adventure 3000 are in abundance yet something like Yoshi's Island is next to impossible to find without importing.

Guess I will just have to be patient and keep an eye out for the titles and keep hold of them! This is where digital distribution would be king!

[importaku]

Thats exactly the problem, with so much **** out it pushes the older stuff from the shelves. Why bother stocking those older titles when you can fill it up with. Horsez, petz, i love my ponyz, imagine babiez. God what a nightmare for anyone who wants to buy from a uk games shop.

Went into game while going through town (checking out the 360 section) as i hadnt visited a uk games shop in a long time, i went past the ds section out of interest & i almost wanted to puke. Im so grateful im able to import thats all i have to say.

[toythatkills]

As for Ebay I was thinking people with a fair few sales and 100% feedback would be a safe bet? I am not a big Ebay user so not sure on this one.

Feedback is unreliable when looking for fakes, because most people don't realise or care that they've been sold one. I wouldn't trust anyone that had a lot of DS games for sale, basically. If you have to buy from anyone on there, look for the people that are clearing out a collection rather than people that are operating as shops, and you'll be much safer. Proper photos rather than stock photos.

Or just use common sense, there are some games that are so blatantly fake as to be not worth bothering with!

[noobish hat]

Umm, I would have to (finally) agree with toythatkills on this one. I never used to worry at all when buying off ebay and wouldn't think twice, mostly cos I buy jap version pretty much exclusively and who's pirating those? But having been bitten once with a pirate DS game, I think I'd steer clear of the place. My CEX in Leeds is ok for DS games I believe, and I remember seeing quite a few 'real' games (mario kart, yoshi's island etc), but they were probably priced pretty close to their original rrp. I never buy disc games from CEX because they're always ****ed up, but maybe carts would be a different story? I'm having a bit of trouble locating DS games myself recently, but mostly cos I never pay full price for anything. It is depressing as importaku said, going into a uk games shop and seeing all the utter splooge stacked up on the shelves, which is why I never even bother going in. Now that I think of it, almost all my DS games were either bought in Japan, or on here. I see you've got a wanted thread, but in my experience people rarely check these, so maybe your best bet would be to contact some members personally? Daryl used to have lots of jap games knocking about, don't know if he eventually managed to get rid of them all or what...

[Strider]

Wow, some of those prices are amazing. Needless to say, placing an order once payday is here. Cheers for the heads up The Mole.

[importaku]

If your planning on ordering online from cex then good luck, i can gurantee they will stuff up your order & then you'll get the runaround when you ask for a refund. Go to their forums & read the horror stories if you don't believe me.

If you really must buy from them it's safter to do it in person.

[The Mole]

I used the website once and had no problems. Stuff arrived quickly and it was in good nick, they let you return it if its is not suitable when it arrives.

I would suggest placing an order, maybe get something cheap, if it works out well then you know what to expect for next time, if not you have not lost much.

Amazon marketplace is a major no no 3 orders and 3 problems. I bought a new lawnmower which came with 4 broken wheels, Amazon were no help in getting my money back. I bought a copy of Mario Kart DS that was a clear fake, and a dvd i bought was a copy not an original NO MORE

Ebay seam to be clamping down on fakes, but buying from somewhere like CEX you know your getting an original and have a real store to complain to should things not turn out.

[ezee ryder]

Just to add in my two cents, I have ordered stuff from CEX online and never had any issues. Obviously you can't expect the game to be in mint condition as they only sell pre-owned, saying that though a few of my orders did arrive in great condition.

[egparadigm]

I've seen copies of Yoshi's Island in CEX in Bristol. They seem to have bucketloads of new, American DS games. Just a shame that most are priced between £22-30.